Minjee Lee keeps rivals at bay for China win

Monday, 24 October 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

AFP: Australia’s Minjee Lee beat back stiff competition from rivals to land her third LPGA victory at the Blue Bay tournament on China’s Hainan Island Sunday.

Lee carded a two-under par 70 to win by one stroke at 13-under par, one ahead of Jessica Korda and two ahead of Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn on the par-72 course.

Lee and Korda shared the leaderboard top spot heading into the final round, but the 20-year-old from Perth edged ahead of the American Sunday, firing a birdie at the first hole.

At the par-three seventh hole a birdie by Lee and a bogey by Korda extended that lead to three and the Australian closed out the tournament with rounds of 65-67-73-70 for a total of 275.

Lee is projected to move up in the Rolex Women’s World Golf rankings after her Blue Bay win. Having pocketed the $315,000 first prize, she has almost $2 million in career earnings since turning professional in 2014.

“I feel like I’ve been playing really solid golf the whole year. I know I won in Hawaii, but getting a win this week, it feels really good. Just really happy,” said Lee on her win. “I’m glad I came out on top but it was a really good fight out there.”

Korda can take heart in her performance, carding 67-72-66-71 and a total of 276 for her best finish of 2016, as she prepares for the SIME Darby LPGA in Malaysia where she is defending champion.

Jutanugarn posted a final round two-under par 70 to finish third for her 14th top ten finish of the year, including five victories.